Overall meaning : Allah, Exalted be He, mentions part of the story of Shu’ayb, peace be upon him, which is the last of the stories mentioned in this surah. He says: The dwellers of the Thicket denied all of Allah’s messengers (This is so because their denial of Lot was tantamount to their denial of all the messengers) when their messenger, Shu’ayb, said to them, ‘Will you not fear Allah and His punishment and thus worship Him alone? I am a messenger from Allah to you, faithful to the message with which He has entrusted to me to convey it to you exactly as it is. Fear Allah’s wrath and punishment, then, and obey me. I do not ask you for any reward in return for my advice to you. My reward rests with none but the Lord of all the worlds.
Then He mentions that His Prophet Shu’ayb, peace be upon him, forbade his people from committing the foremost vices in their society, in which they heavily indulged: Shu’ayb said to them, ‘Give full measure and weight in all fairness, and do not be of those who give people less than their due. Weigh with even scales, do not cheat people out of their rights and do not corrupt the land with evil. Fear Allah who has created you, just as He created the former generations before you.’
His people replied, ‘Surely you are bewitched and your speech is rather meaningless. You are but a human being like us, and we believe that you are a liar by claiming that you have been sent by Allah. Cause, then, fragments from the sky to fall upon us and destroy us if you are telling the truth!’
Shu’ayb threateningly said, ‘My Lord is well aware of your sins and idolatrous practices and He will punish you for them if He so wills. My only duty is to deliver His message.’
They disbelieved him, and thus the punishment of the Day of the Shadowing Cloud seized them. (This cloud gave them shade when they suffered a bout of extreme heat but, after feeling the coolness it initially gave and they called one another to gather underneath it, it then rained down fire on them and destroyed them all) This was the punishment of a dreadful day that was full of great terrors.
Surely in Our destruction of the people of Shu’ayb there was manifest proof of Shu’ayb’s truthfulness and a lesson for those who wish to learn from it, yet most of Shu’ayb’s people would not believe. And surely your Lord, Muhammad, is the Almighty who vanquishes and severely punishes His enemies, and the All-Compassionate towards His servants, who does not hasten their punishment once they commit a sin.